theQnology

There's this unorthodox guy who eats criticisms day in and out and regurgitates them back tenfold at his critics, with an ever grinning face, it infuriates a plethora of poly-TICK-hands.

tick(tk)n.a small parasitic creature typically living on the skin of warm-blooded animals and feeding on the blood and tissues of their hosts:

Or should I say, "...ever grinning face it makes politicians jump in joy [skip-hop] for the opportunity to appear doing the country a favor by getting rid of this guy"? The guy goes by the name Bayani Fernando -- how Filipino could a name get.

I'm not saying I approve of all his silly antics and his paint frenzy of blue and pink. I'm not saying I approve of his "enthusiasm" in joining Celebrity Duets. Heck this guy is at times a circus by himself.

cir·cus(sûrks)n.

a. A public entertainment consisting typically of a variety of performances by acrobats, clowns, and trained animals.

What I do approve of, is his will to take action and his capacity to endure crap thrown at him. I say crap because they usually mean nothing but publicity. At any rate, I believe he should be the next president because:

He does not dive into politicking. He says what he thinks and he thinks what he says.

He does. He neither cares about his image, nor gives a crap about surveys.

He is no legislator, then again he's not running for a legislative position. He is an executive, and a damn good one.

He rules with an iron fist. We all know we Filipinos need some spanking. [see Lee Kwan Yew]

See 1-5.

His bid for presidency, however, comes with a hefty price tag. General population from Visayas and Mindanao have not even heard of his name. That's why I appeal to you and your friends, vote for this guy, spread the word.

Kindly post your comments if you believe in this guy and want to add more reasons to the list.

What does one need to build a good house? He needs to find a land first, a land where it is sturdy enough to build on. How does one know this? Easy, you survey the land, check for humidity, soil texture, type, and land history. The same can be said when it comes to housing a philosophy into one’s mind. Before one can start talking about his philosophy in life, it is only necessary that he knows himself deeply enough, that he knows his own philosophy, otherwise, if he does not know himself, he could not know what his philosophy in life is.

I had been a huge fan of thinkers my entire life. I didn’t like to memorize *insert rationalization and sour-grapes here*, I wanted to think, and I wanted to understand. The simple thought of doing nothing disgusts me. “How does a refrigerator work? How does an air conditioner work?” I could not be at peace with myself until I find meaning or answers to those questions. I had many questions. One day we were having a “class” with my father when he told me about what this person, JFK’s brother I think, thought about questions, that it was good to ask why, but it was always better to ask why not – to make dreams a reality.

This was at this point that I started knowing myself. I had me a good foundation of where to build my house – my philosophical house. To reinforce my house, I needed to make a good foundation, not just a good ground; I mean a really good foundation. I started “consulting” people. I went out, talked to a lot of people, learned from them, viewed things from their perspectives and compared them with mine. I started living.

One of the more interesting people I’ve met was my Relsone professor, had he a lot of ideas that stirred my mind. “Faith without works is dead, JAS 2:17.” He wanted to instill that in our hearts. Then he also talked about heaven and hell and how they do not exist.Later, I added reason. Further, one needs to have a good wall and a strong roof. Those will what make you a structure, but not yet a house. A good structure cannot be penetrated by just strong winds and rains. It is in itself, a fortress. But that does not mean it can not be penetrated totally, a wall can be torn down [with owner’s consent], and have it extended on one side after all. That’s what you call change and acceptance. When one wants to accommodate more inside his house, he does just this.

Why does heaven and hell not exist? Simple I thought, because the concept of heaven and hell was just coined by people who could not find meaning into their existence somewhere else. They wanted their lives to have meaning, and if doing good would not take you to heaven, then there’s no meaning to that. If doing bad does not take you to hell, there’s no meaning to that either, they thought. It is not uncommon to hear the phrase “liars go to hell” when I was young. People are actually teaching their kids to do good to NOT go to hell. For me, this is NOT how people should think. Reason separates man from animals, as sentient beings. We are not like our dogs that we train, we understand. Dogs could be manipulated using a good biscuit. This should not be the same case with human beings, one should not do good because he wants to go to heaven, one should do good because reason dictates him to do good, he should do good because it is good.Now what makes this structure a good place to dwell in? You need a comfortable couch, a good bed and tables to go with them, to get a good rest and sleep, and of course door locks to protect your things with, to be at peace at night. One is at peace with himself when he knows his mind is safe, when no one could just take everything from him with one sweep. One is at peace with himself when his philosophy is not under threat. On the brighter side though, when a house is threatened, one is in doubt. But doubt should not be feared. Doubt should not be taken for granted either. It is when at doubt that man starts to use reason to solve things. When one becomes so passionate and comfortable, one might refuse to use reason, it is doubt that balances reason and passion.

Now what will you need to complete this structure? What will you need to make this a house? Well, you need people to dwell in it; you need people to share your house with. One should not end with just a good structure; the structure would be useless if no one lived in it. You put your philosophy into practice. It is that point when one completes living a life. You should not just end in believing in something, you need to concretize what you believe in. After all, even the bible would agree, again, that faith without works is dead. It would not have been “believing” in something if you could not put it into practice, otherwise, you do not believe in it after all.Now what will make this house a home? Some say that you can not have if home with a family and a house alone. Happiness and love makes it a home. How does one achieve this? According to the Hindu belief, what can make a man happy is joy, knowledge, life, and infinity of those mentioned – infinite joy, infinite knowledge, and infinite life. How can one achieve this when infinite joy is limited by suffering, that infinite knowledge is hindered by fallacies, and the road to infinite life is obstructed by death? Easy they say, because knowing oneself, he gets closer to God. Man is the temple of God. When one is with God, he will find infinite joy, knowledge and life. So it will all bring us back to the questions not about the surroundings, not about the stars, not about the comets, not about the milky way, not about the earth either, but to ourselves, and how we should relate to mankind.

A philosophical house is not just a structure where you throw everything in and it builds by itself, otherwise it would not be a house, it would only be a pile of wood, stone, metal and mud. It takes years to build a house. And in building this house, you need to choose your materials wisely. And in choosing the materials needed, you will need to examine them – a test. And my test to the materials I choose? Is it the truth? Is it fair to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and better relationships? Will it be beneficial to all concerned? It seems to be a pretty good place to start.But before all this, before one could even build a house. He needs to do something about it. He needs to take actions into his own hands. One thing about the atheists that I like? They don’t just pray and hope that something will spring from the ground. They know that they could not just rely on a powerful being to do their work for them, if they wanted something, they do something about it. And atheism does not necessarily equate to evil. They just believe that they need to take matters into their hands. As for me? I believe there is a God. Just because I want to take matters into my own hands does not make me evil. And if I was a God, I would have my people do the same before they turn to me. To build a house, you need to do everything that you could, find out everything that you might need. To build a philosophical house, go out into the society and learn about its problems, and do something about it. You could choose to build a small shanty, a modest bungalow, a comfortable duplex. Mix everything with reason, passion, truth and a dash of faith and you could build any philosophical house that you like. If you did just this, put your mind and heart into it, you could build yourself a mansion.

One’s philosophy is just like a house. This must be what my late professor wanted us to realize before we started off with the course. When a person grows older, it is inevitable that he starts to ask questions about life, what kind of life he wants to live, what type of work he wants to pursue, what house he wants to build on, and eventually, to whom he wants to share this house with.

People, since time of long ago, desire a perfect world.But how do you define a perfect world?Is it a world without hunger, crime, and suffering?If I was God, would I have done things differently?

If I was God, I would have not.Talk about destruction – many people could only see the good in creation and the evil in destruction, and these people should know better.Destruction is not evil as many people would try to convince you, destruction brings about balance – destruction allows the creation of another good.

Here’s the thing, imagine your own perfect world…Is it a place without disease?Is it a place where everybody is able to eat?Is it a place where everybody lives for the rest of eternity?This picture alone of a perfect world is a contradiction by itself.Are you even a vegetarian?If in a perfect world, men should not even have the need to eat, then how can you call this perfect when man does not have the luxury to enjoy even the smallest of things such as good food?

Immortality?The thought alone sends shivers down my spine.Imagine doing something not close to perfect, and regretting it for the rest of eternity.If man was also perfect, that he doesn’t go wrong?Don’t even go there, the very thing I would envy about men, if I was an angel [and if angels exist], is their ability to do the things they can do now *insert sex and good food* with the blessing of being human.

Man seeks a perfect world so that he won’t have the need to answer questions.Otherwise, it is not a perfect world after all.Man seeks a perfect world because he is afraid of imperfection.Man seeks a perfect world because he is afraid to find his meaning in life.Man seeks a perfect world because he is afraid to search for his purpose in life.Man seeks a perfect world to compromise for everything he is NOT.

But this should not put us down.The reason – because it drives man to exist.It drives man to ask questions about his world, his community, and most importantly his own self.This world gives us a sense of purpose, and that’s when we are most alive.

I'm no holy man, I'm no religious man... Somehow, I got myself to attend the mass one day.. Maybe hoping I could align myself with the stars, the zodiac, and the heavens.

Give the man what is due to him, that is justice. Give the man what he needs, that is charity. Give the man what he wants, that is generosity.

The land owner went out to find laborers to till the land for him, he went out at 9 in the morning, and got men to agree to till the land for him in exchange for the usual daily pay. He went out at 3 in the afternoon and again, got men to agree to till the land for him in exchange for the usual daily pay. Again, at 5 in the afternoon he went out and met a few bystanders, and after exchanging a few lines, he got these men to till his land for him. At the end of the day, he summoned the laborers. Starting with the last men to work, he gave them the usual daily pay. Alas, he also gave the men who worked the entire day the usual daily pay. The men who worked all day confronted the land owner why they received the same amount as the ones who arrived last and told him why he had been unfair to them, the land owner replied that they all agreed to till the land for the usual daily pay. He has not cheated these men, but was just being generous to those who came last.

Man has tried so hard to convince himself that he is created in the image and likeness of God, but he has it the other way around. These men would not have complained if they were created in the image and likeness of God, instead, God is created in the image and likeness of man. Man thinks of God as someone he can put into words. Men think of God as somebody man is not. Man can only describe God in earthly terms...

Taking these into account, we should not be here to understand God, but to understand men. To understand these men, is to know God. We need not search for God, but rather search our hearts.

I was reading the Race2MVP when I realized, there never really were true LeBron fans, nor Cavaliers fans, nor Celtics except maybe for the people living in Cleveland and Boston. Many a people love LeBron James - not for his exceptional ability to dominate opponents, large and small - but for the same reason people love Kevin Garnett and the Celtics, their ability to provide a sense of "anything other than Kobe and the color purple and yellow".

The love for LeBron and Garnett sprang because people felt tired of hearing about Kobe Bryant all the time. It was more a mutual connection because of a common sense of hatred, which is actually amusing to say the least. They hate Kobe so much they talk about him all the time. Which reminds me of my high school days, mind you I was hated for some reason the same people who hated me could not even explain, they just hated me...... and talked about me all the time. But that's another story to tell...

Ball hog? Michael Jordan was one [stat-wise], so was Allen Iverson. But there never seems to be another player as hated as Kobe Bryant. According to 89% of the General Managers, there would be no other person they could trust the ball with when the game is on the line, now why the need to hate? And then it occurred to me, he is that guy to beat. Hands down, LeBron has better numbers than Kobe, but he cringes when his greatness is at stake. Until that changes, Kobe > LeBron > Garnett. Nobody else in the NBA plays with such tenacity and resilience. He is not afraid of failure. I bet he eats criticisms for breakfast, and that what makes him great, and ultimately, will make him immortal.

[Insert: Garnett only talks trash to pedestrians...]

For those who hate Kobe, I now understand you. Cheers to your non-Lakers team that you call your favorite. Too bad though, I know you dont savor the win as much as I do when the Lakers win. Champion or not, Lakers will always be a great team, and that greatness will always emanate from the person who you hate the most and yet the same person that is part of every NBA related conversation you have.